5 on Friday: Five Ways to Track Your Media

I have problems tracking all the things I want to read, play, and watch. Which seems like it shouldn’t be that big of a problem, until it’s Saturday night and my husband and I are playing the verbal Ping-Pong of “no, what do you want to watch.” It’s extra frustrating when you know there’s that one kind-of new (ie too new for Netflix) movie you want to watch but can’t remember what it is. It’s not only movies, but books and games I’ve had this issue with as well. I knew there had to be an easy way to track your media, this is what I found.

For Books: GoodReads

Bookworms have this pretty much figured out with Goodreads. You can find your friends across social networks easily, and see what they’re reading. It recommends books off of books you have read. You can share what you’re reading to your Facebook and Twitter page. In an essence, it’s what I want in a media tracking service. There are other services, like BookDigits, that have a much better recommendation engine, but they lack the all-in-one convenience of Goodreads. Follow me there and find out all the books you should be reading.

For Music: Last.fm

There are so many tracking methods for music. After all, music lovers love to share what they’re listening to. Last.fm is probably the most broad and the most solid. Plus, it integrates into tons of other services. So when I listen to something on Spotify it’s added to my Last.fm library. Last.fm then turns this into a phenomenal “recommended” list. And I love seeing how much my library matches up with my friend’s libraries. They also have free MP3s for download, and have started a Spotify partnership which will let you listen to full length songs from Spotify on Last.fm (it’s still in beta). There’s some other fun services like Discogs to track your physical collection, Bands In Town to track upcoming concerts, This is My Jam to share your favorite song of the moment, and Soundtracking which is a similar song sharing service. You can follow me on Last.fm here and see if we’re musically compatible.

For TV: TVTag

TVTag, formally GetGlue, is a way to check into shows you’re watching on TV. Think of it as a Foursquare for what you’re watching.  TVTag will use that information to create a personalized TV guide for you, as well as recommend other shows. You can save recommended shows to watch later. I don’t think I’m getting the full benefit of TVTag, mainly because I don’t watch a ton of TV, but it certainly seems like it could be great for those of you who do.

For Video Games: Grouvee + Raptr

We all must be spending too much time gaming because we still don’t have an ideal solution. Right now I’m using Raptr to track my achievements, and Grouvee to track my backlog. Neither of these have a recommendation engine. In an ideal world, there’d be a service that was like these two combined, plus there’d be recommendations as well. But at this point, this is all we have. At least now that I found Grouvee, I can start checking out the Grimmys and add to my wishlist.

For Movies: Letterboxd

Letterboxd has a simple to use interface that lets you mark movies as “seen” or add them to your “watch list.” You can rate the movies on a five star scale, or simply mark them as “liked.” You can create (and browse) lists of movies. Since it connects to Facebook and Twitter you can find your friends and browse their movies as well. This is a really solid approach but it has one glaring omission: there’s no recommendation engine. I think this service would be perfect with one. There also is no app for Letterboxd, but it doesn’t need one. The mobile website is beautifully designed, just add it to your homescreen on your phone. You can follow me on Letterboxd and see how bad my watch list really is.